Where Have All The Bugs Gone?

I hear a lot about the lack of bees everywhere. I have noticed myself that there are almost none in the Baltimore area compared to what it was like when I was a kid. When I was a kid bees were everywhere! You had better not leave an open can of soda unattended or it would be filled with bees! You don't have that worry anymore, so it seems to me anyway. What happened to them? Where did they go? Are they coming back?

I have a better question for you. What happened to the Japanese beetles? Has anyone else noticed they are missing too? Last year I was forever cleaning them out of the pool filter basket. They have always been a problem on my Crape Myrtles. Not this year. What's going on with our bugs? Did they all go south for the summer? What is the purpose of Japanese Beetles, besides selling those green Japanese Beetle traps!

There is something called colony collapse disorder where the hive still has a Queen and newly hatched bees, plenty of food, but no workers. They seem to just disappear in thin air? Does this phenomenon happen with other insects, say Japanese Beetles? Do they have workers? How important is it that bees are gone? Does anyone care that the Japanese Beetles are gone?

Are the bees being wiped out by mites that aren't being killed off in our mild winters? Is this really another part of global warming? Is that possible? Somebody better figure this out before there aren't any bees to pollinate my idiot proof garden next year!